25 people shot, one dead, across city

More than two dozen people were shot across the city between late Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning.

One died and several others are in critical condition in shootings that left a total of 25 people injured, according to police. A 6-year-old girl was among the wounded.

Five people were shot on the West Side within 20 minutes of each other in two separate attacks about 2:10 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. Police are investigating the possibility that they're related – they happened about five blocks apart.

A party bus stopped on the 2400 block of West Roosevelt Road in the Lawndale neighborhood to let people into a bar and about 45 minutes later, the driver heard people shooting and hit the floor of his bus.

Only a few women were on the bus when the shots rang out, driver Cash Vait said. He was waiting for his passengers, some of whom were exiting the bar, when someone started shooting. Vait said he heard between three and five shots and dropped to the ground, unable to see who was shooting. Moments later, he heard a second volley of shots to the north.

Three men – 18, 19, and one whose age wasn't available – were hit. Vait said he saw people swarm one man, who dropped in the street.

"I saw three or four guys pumping him, he was wearing a white shirt, and it had blood all over it," Vait said.

Evidence markers littered the area in front of the bar and about seventy five feet to the east, in the street. About a dozen marked and unmarked cars were in the area, parked in a nearby gas station or blocking traffic both ways on Roosevelt Road. Casings were also found inside the bar, police said.

The 19-year-old, identified by the Cook County medical examiner's office as Jaleel Beasley, died at Mount Sinai Hospital at 2:34 a.m. A spokeswoman for that office wasn't able to say where Beasley lived.

The 18-year-old was shot in the leg and is in stable condition at John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, and the other person was dropped off at Stroger hospital with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said.

The bus had picked people up from west suburban Bellwood but was stuck behind crime scene tape and everyone inside had to catch cabs back to the suburb, Vait said.

A couple blocks around the corner north in the 700 block of South Western Avenue, police found two people shot inside an SUV that appeared to have collided with something. The front end of the car was damaged and the driver's side airbag had deployed, though bullet holes weren't visible from the front, back or passenger sides, police said.

A 30-year-old man was shot in the leg and a 28-year-old man was shot in the back and shoulder, police said. Both of the men were taken to Stroger hospital. The younger of the two is in critical condition, and the older is in good condition.

Early Saturday night, a 6-year-old girl and two others were shot in two attacks blocks apart in the Marquette Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Police said the child was playing in front of her house on the 6900 block of South Artesian Avenue about 4:15 p.m. when two groups of people on the corner of 68th and Artesian – one in a car, one on the corner – started arguing.

Someone inside the car shot at the group on the corner and missed, instead hitting the girl. The intended targets fled south from 68th Street toward the girl and the car fled east on 68th Street, police said.

The child was shot in the arm and is in good condition at Holy Cross Hospital, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Sgt. Antoinette Ursitti said. The child's mother drove her to Holy Cross Hospital, a few blocks west on California Avenue between 68th and 69th streets.

Less than two hours later and a few blocks away, two men were wounded in what police said may have been a retaliatory attack. The shooting happened shortly before 6 p.m. on the 2500 block of West 71st Street, said police News Affairs Officer Dan O'Brien. According to preliminary reports, both victims drove themselves to Holy Cross Hospital.

One of them, 22, was listed in serious condition with gunshot wounds to his arm, leg and buttocks, O'Brien said. The other man, 25, suffered a wound to his hand. As of 6:45 p.m., no one was in custody for the shootings and Area Central detectives were investigating.

In other shootings:

A 29-year-old woman was shot in the arm about 7:30 p.m. on the 700 block of East 38th Street in the Ida B. Wells/Darrow Homes neighborhood, police said. She heard shots and felt pain, police said. No information was available on her condition or at which hospital she was treated.

About 9:50 p.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in the 1400 block of East 66th Place in the Woodlawn neighborhood. He was shot in the right side and right forearm and taken in stable condition to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, police said. He was shot from the alley, and police said the incident was gang-related but didn't say why.

Two men, 20 and 21, were shot on the 11100 block of South Normal Avenue in the Roseland neighborhood on the Far South Side about 10 p.m. The younger was shot in the head and is in critical condition and the other was shot in the groin and is in stable condition. Both were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, police said. Additional details about the shooting weren't immediately available from police.

A male was shot in the foot -- he may have shot himself -- about 10:50 p.m. Saturday on the 400 block of East 87th Street in the Chatham neighborhood, police said. No information was available on his condition or at which hospital he was treated.

About 12:45 a.m. Sunday, a man in his 20s was shot in the leg on the 2900 block of North Lawndale Avenue in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side, police said. No other details were available on that shooting.

Two men were shot in the legs about 1 a.m. on the 3800 block of West Grand Avenue in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the West Side, police said. One was 23 and the other 26. Both are in good condition.

A 19-year-old man was shot in the leg and arm about 1:20 a.m. on the 500 block of West 57th Place in the Englewood neighborhood. police said. He's not cooperating with police, who weren't able to release information about a possible shooter.

About 1:30 a.m., an 18-year-old woman was shot in the face on the 4400 block of West Fulton Street in the West Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side. Someone inside a dark-colored vehicle shot at her. She was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she's in critical condition, police said.

About 1:40 a.m., four men were shot on the 900 block of East 79th Street in the Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side. Police said a 43-year-old man was shot in the back and is in stable condition at Advocate Christ Medical Center. A 35-year-old man was shot in the arm and leg and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center. A 31-year-old man was shot in the hand and refused medical attention at the scene but drove himself to the same hospital as the 35-year-old.

Those three were standing on a corner when someone shot at them. The fourth man, a 31-year-old shot in the temple, was in a nearby car when he was shot. Police couldn't say if the car was moving or stopped, but he was dropped off at Jackson Park Hospital. The four men are said to be in "stable" condition.

About 10 minutes later, a 19-year-old woman and 23-year-old man were shot on the 6800 block of South Claremont Avenue, in the west edge of the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side, police said.

The two got into an argument with a group at a nearby White Castle restaurant and were shot by someone in the group while walking north on Claremont Avenue. Both were taken to Christ Medical Center, the man with a wound to his side and the woman with a wound to her back. Both are in critical condition.

At about 4:10 a.m., a 33-year-old man was shot in the thigh in 2300 block of West Rosemont Avenue in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, police said.

The man was walking when he exchanged words with three or four men who were inside a newer blue Toyota sedan. One of the men inside pulled a handgun and fired, striking the man once in the thigh, police said.

He took himself to St. Francis Hospital in Evanston where he was treated and released, police said.

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